Chocolate Humpty "Dump"ty Cake

I just love this blogging thingy I do, not because I have virtually eliminated paper recipes and my little note card recipe box (which we all had at one time or another), but when I need inspiration for a dessert that uses no butter or eggs, I can find hundreds of ideas with the click of my mouse.

I did not make this cake for dietary reasons, I really had no eggs or butter in my fridge. 

I dropped the last two eggs and our shopping trip was not for two more days. There goes my chance to bake while it's still cool and I had my heart set on making this as a surprise for The Nudge.
I would try to get creative, but me & baking do not equal success.

I remember reading about a dump cake which is just a boxed cake mix, dumped into a baking pan with a can of pop poured over? I probably would have tried it, but there is no boxed cake mix or soda in this house so I went to Google and typed in "no egg cake" and this recipe popped up, many many times, each with a different flavor and some with unique techniques (but I will not embarrass those bloggers, whatever works for you).
 
At first read, I must say, I was skeptical at all the boasting about how wonderful the crumb of this "dump" cake was but, it was a dump cake after all. Is it worthy of my guy? Best yet, will he like it? Hubby is as plain as it gets and chocolate cake without the trimmings is all about the plain. By all indications, this had his name written all over it, but me? I can always make a trifle out of it.

I grabbed all the ingredients and preceded to dump them into a bowl. This was easy as promised, 9 ingredients all mixed together in one bowl. No mixer, no creaming, no alternating of wet/dry, this was my kind of cake. Only problem was..... where the hell did I put all my Pyrex baking pans?!

One of these days I will reach for something and it will be right there. All I could find was a 9x13 baking pan. Much more pan that the recipe called for and if I had thought about it, I would just have doubled the recipe.
Trouble....I got trouble....hmmmmm. I sprayed the pan and there was no going back.

I am not enamored with the name. If i was skeptical, others would also be, so instead of what could be perceived as a, "what do you expect from a cake that has dump in the title", to a whimsical name that befits a magical creation.
I will call it a Humpty Dumpty Cake.

Did I make you smile?
This cake....did.

Chocolate Humpty Dumpty Cake
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 15 minutes
Yield: One sheet cake

* 1 1/2 cups flour (all-purpose)
* 3 tablespoons cocoa (unsweetened)
* 1 Cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon white vinegar
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare your baking pan (Pam, butter & flour)
Put ingredients into a large bowl and whisk to mix. It's OK if there are small lumps, they will work out as it bakes.
9" square pan: bake for 35 minutes.
9x13" baking pan: bake for 15 minutes.
Check with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean.
Cool and top with your favorite frosting or do what I did. Cut the cake in half and fill with your favorite jam. I had lemon curd, so I used that.
Enjoy!

Review: I have never heard The Nudge discuss the many different variations of filling I could use in the next cake I am going to bake. Imagine that. If you have an avid cake lover and are baking challenged, this cake will make you look like a rock star, it was that good. For my next selection, I have chosen an orange marmalade filling.
This cake required no refrigeration due to the lack of ingredients that do, so it is perfect to bring to an outdoor venue where there will be no way to keep it cool. It remained true to form for one week on my kitchen table (covered of course).